05/07/2026
🏡 BUYING A NEW HOME (or land)🏡
1. First, find a trusted Realtor.
2. Sign a Buyers Broker Agreement (BBA) (it could be for a day, a month, a year, whatever you’d like, but you need this to have your Realtor show you properties).
3. Your Realtor will talk to you about your needs, your wants, and your non-negotiables.
4. You will get pre-approved with a lender, so you know you can afford what you are looking at.
5. Your Realtor will set you up on a search, and reach out to their Sphere of Influence (SOI) to try to find you exactly what you want, within your budget.
6. Your Realtor will set you up on an automated search in the Multi-Listing Service (MLS) and you can adjust the criteria to narrow it down to a finite area, or feature(s) you want.
7. Your Realtor will schedule showings for you and meet at your showings they have scheduled. They’ll usually bring a printed copy of the MLS for each home and have you write your pros and cons on the sheets, so you can remember what you liked or didn’t like about each home. This process is on loop until you find what you love.
Once we find a home you love…
- Make an offer.
- If accepted, we are under contract. If not accepted, counter until we get there.
- Take the earnest money, usually 1% of purchase price, or more if competitive. (Within 48 hours of going under contract).
- Schedule inspections (home and termite) then if needed, structural. (I usually try to schedule the day of going under contract, usually within 2-3 days - $350’ish home inspection and about $100 termite).
- Negotiate repairs.
I usually recommend the 3 S’s:
Safety, Structural & Systems. So like if attic ladder is wonky, or needs piers, or HVAC is out of commission.
- Wait for appraisal. (About two weeks from when appraiser is scheduled to go out).
- Final walk through to check repairs
- We close🙌🏼
If you ever have questions, please reach out to me. I’m happy to walk you through the process. 😊
Laura Philbin - The Ritzy Realtor at NextHome Central Real Estate Laura Philbin
